‘Some people believe that football is matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude, it is much, much more important than that.’
Bill Shankly

Saturday, February 7, 2015

So
difficult to measure success and fame – of course, many Brazilian
clubs were traditional powerhouses in their native states and also
participated regularly in the national championship, alas, barely
noticed. Yet, sometimes they performed stronger than famous clubs...
but in the vast river of Brazilian football that meant almost
nothing...

Colorado
– strong in their state, but ranked 31st
in the national championship this season.

Brasilia
– hailing from weak part in terms of football, 73rd
in the national championship, but compared to famous Santos, not even
playing at national level?

Gama
– champions of Distrito Federal. Coming straight from the capital
of Brazil, yet a club which was internationally kind of heard of
years later – in the 1990s. 48th
in the 1979 national championship.

Ferroviario
– once again champions of Ceara. 69th
in the national championship.

It
is impossible to measure what was more important – local success or
national one. One thing was to win the championship of, say, Distrito
Federal, but quite another to win the Paulista championship. Yet,
they were championships on equal level. It could be said that famous
clubs often put more effort in their state championship and neglected
the national one. Or compensated weak national performance with local
success – or the other way around.

Bahia
– five consecutive titles at home. 50th
in the national championship.

And
what about Gremio?

Winners
of the tough Gaucho championship, full of stars: Paulo Cesar Lima,
Dirceu, Ancheta, Baltazar, Tarciso, Vantuir... Eder on his way to
become a world famous star... ever present Manga adding one more
title to his name... certainly a strong team, stronger than most.
22nd
in the national championship... in any other country such place meant
second division... in Brazil it meant Gremio was much weaker than
Uberlandia, 9th,
a club nobody heard of... or so it seems. The failure on national
scale was pushed aside... the importance of winning Gaucho
championship emphasized... and may be rightly.

About Me

I am Vesselin Vesselinov, born in Bulgaria and living in Canada. Football is my hobby since childhood – not the most important part of my life, but lifelong addiction nevertheless. Playing, watching, talking and collecting football. Now I am sharing my addiction with you. Hope you enjoy it.